INDIAN PHILOSOPHER J.L. MEHTA

Dr. J.L. Mehta, an Indian philosopher and expert on the German existentialist philosopher Martin Heidegger, is dead at 76.

He died of a heart attack Monday while on a visit to Cambridge. He lived in Jabalpur, India.

A retired professor at Banares Hindu University, Dr. Mehta taught at Harvard Divinity School from 1968 to 1978 as a visiting professor at the school`s Center for the Study of World Religions.

Schooled in the philosophies of India, he developed an interest in the works of Freud, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and Heidegger. In his writings and lectures, Dr. Mehta showed an unusual facility to move between Eastern and Western thought.

His major work was ''The Philosophy of Martin Heiddeger,'' first published in the United States by Harper & Row in 1971.

At Harvard, Dr. Mehta taught courses in Indian philosophy, including a class he shared with philosopher Robert Nozick.

Dr. Mehta also taught courses on philosophical hermeneutics, the science of interpretation.

Dr. Mehta is survived by his wife, Vimala Mehta; a daughter, Veena Mandloi, of New Dehli, and two grandchildren. Dr. Mehta will be cremated. A memorial service will be held at Harvard next week.